What Google’s self-driving car sees on the road

Updated 1:12 pm, Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The commercialization of robotics raises legal questions about such technological advances as digital body parts or driverless vehicles like this Google self-driving car.

The commercialization of robotics raises legal questions about such technological advances as digital body parts or driverless vehicles like this Google self-driving car.

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Staff

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Dmitri Dolgov, a Google engineer, in a self-driving car parked in Silicon Valley after a road test in Mountain View, Calif., Oct. 6, 2010. Google has been working on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. (Ramin Rahimian/The New York Times)

Dmitri Dolgov, a Google engineer, in a self-driving car parked in Silicon Valley after a road test in Mountain View, Calif., Oct. 6, 2010. Google has been working on vehicles that can drive themselves, using

A bicyclist rides by a Google self-driving car at the Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. The bill also calls for the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that govern licensing, bonding, testing and operation of the driverless vehicles before January 2015. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A bicyclist rides by a Google self-driving car at the Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless

From left, California Gov. Edmund G Brown Jr., state Senator Alex Padilla and Google co-founder Sergey Brin stand by a driverless car they arrived in at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. Brown visited Google to sign legislation for driverless cars. The legislation will open the way for driverless cars in the state. Google, which has been developing autonomous car technology and lobbying for the legislation has a fleet of driverless cars that has logged more than 300,000 miles (482,780 kilometers) of self-driving on California roads. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Gov. Jerry Brown arrives at Google headquarters in a Google driverless car in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, September 25, 2012. Gov. Brown signed a new bill regulating the ability of still-experimental driverless vehicles to operate on California roads. less

Gov. Jerry Brown arrives at Google headquarters in a Google driverless car in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, September 25, 2012. Gov. Brown signed a new bill regulating the ability of still-experimental ... more

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

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California Gov. Edmund G Brown Jr., front left, rides in a driverless car to a bill signing at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. The legislation will open the way for driverless cars in the state. Google, which has been developing autonomous car technology and lobbying for the legislation has a fleet of driverless cars that has logged more than 300,000 miles (482,780 kilometers) of self-driving on California roads. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

California Gov. Edmund G Brown Jr., front left, rides in a driverless car to a bill signing at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. The legislation will open the way for

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: People look at camera on top of a Google self-driving car at the Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. The bill also calls for the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that govern licensing, bonding, testing and operation of the driverless vehicles before January 2015.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: People look at camera on top of a Google self-driving car at the Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed

This device on the rear wheel of the autonomous vehicle measures the car's speed. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) introduces Senate Bill 1298, which would establish guidelines for autonomous vehicles to be tested and operated in California during a press conference on the west steps of the Capitol March 1, 2012. He arrived in Google's autonomous vehicle. (Anne Chadwick Williams / Special to the Chronicle)

This device on the rear wheel of the autonomous vehicle measures the car's speed. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) introduces Senate Bill 1298, which would establish guidelines for autonomous vehicles to be

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: Google co-founder Sergey Brin stands in front of a self-driving car at the Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. The bill also calls for the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that govern licensing, bonding, testing and operation of the driverless vehicles before January 2015.

Gov. Jerry Brown arrives at Google headquarters in a Google driverless car in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, September 25, 2012. Gov. Brown signed a new bill regulating the ability of still-experimental driverless vehicles to operate on California roads. (Sarah Rice / Special to The Chronicle)

Gov. Jerry Brown arrives at Google headquarters in a Google driverless car in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, September 25, 2012. Gov. Brown signed a new bill regulating the ability of still-experimental

The camera on top of Google's autonomous vehicle rotates 10 times per second to gather information for the car. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) introduces Senate Bill 1298, which would establish guidelines for autonomous vehicles to be tested and operated in California during a press conference on the west steps of the Capitol March 1, 2012. He arrived in Google's autonomous vehicle. (Anne Chadwick Williams / Special to the Chronicle)

The camera on top of Google's autonomous vehicle rotates 10 times per second to gather information for the car. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) introduces Senate Bill 1298, which would establish guidelines for

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) gets into Google's automous vehicle, a "self-driving" car, and rides up to the west steps of the Capitol, where heintroduces Senate Bill 1298, which would establish guidelines for autonomous vehicles to be tested and operated in California during a press conference on the west steps of the Capitol March 1, 2012. The car may potentially reduce traffic fatalities eliminating human error. (Anne Chadwick Williams / Special to the Chronicle)

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) gets into Google's automous vehicle, a "self-driving" car, and rides up to the west steps of the Capitol, where he
introduces Senate Bill 1298, which would establish guidelines for

The Google street view mapping and camera car is seen as it charts the streets of Washington, DC, on June 7, 2011, in Washington, DC. Google on April 26, 2012 blamed Federal Communications Commission for dragging out an investigation into Google's "Street View" online mapping service gathering data from private wireless hotspots. Google detailed in a 17-page letter to the FCC how fault for delay rested with the commission but said that the Internet giant would pay a $25,000 penalty demanded for purportedly stalling the probe. "While Google disagrees with the premise of the (FCC) notice and many of its factual recitals, Google has determined to pay the forfeiture proposed in the notice in order to put this investigation behind it," the company said. AFP Photo/Paul J. RichardsPAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/GettyImages less

The Google street view mapping and camera car is seen as it charts the streets of Washington, DC, on June 7, 2011, in Washington, DC. Google on April 26, 2012 blamed Federal Communications Commission for ... more

Photo: Paul J. Richards, AFP/Getty Images

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(FILES) - Picture taken on March 3, 2010 shows cars equiped with special cameras, used to photograph whole streets, at the Google street-view stand at the world's biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT in the northern German city of Hanover. Some 4,157 companies from 68 countries are displaying their latest gadgets at the fair taking place from March 2 to 6, 2010.

(FILES) - Picture taken on March 3, 2010 shows cars equiped with special cameras, used to photograph whole streets, at the Google street-view stand at the world's biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT in the

A new photo is giving drivers a glimpse into the brain of Google's autonomous vehicle.

Google has been working to produce an autonomous vehicle for the past several years, hoping the vehicle could save millions of lives by eliminating human error. Bill Gross of Idea Lab tweeted a photo of the complex picture developed by Google's self-driving car.

Gross doesn't mention where he got the photo, but he does add the car is gathering a gigabyte of data every second.

Lawmakers and automakers have been wrangling on how to appropriately use autonomous technology inside of vehicles. Some automakers, such as Lincoln, are already incorporating technology that allows the car to drive itself in certain structured situations.

But before autonomous vehicles have the chance to get on the road, they'll have to navigate a host of legal hurdles.

According to CNET, lawyers are still debating who would be liable in an accident involving an autonomous vehicle. Automakers - not surprisingly - are wary of taking on that much liability.